FCT Remains Insecure, Dirty As Wike Hurries To Deliver Projects For Tinubu’s One Year Anniversary
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike is pushing to provide several projects for President Bola Tinubu to mark the 1 year in office, turning the city into a construction site.
However, the city remains dark and dirty.
Across the city, from AYA to Jahi to Maitama, the city is littered with ongoing projects, from bridges to highways— majority of the projects were inherited from the former Minister, Mohammed Bello, who served as the minister from 2015-2023.
In the past couple of months, the pace of the work on the projects has increased drastically.
Many residents believe that the plan by the minister to hurriedly complete the projects for politics is coming at a cost as the minister appears to be neglecting other aspects of the city, while some others are happy at the pace of the work, putting questions on the 8years of the former minister without delivering projects.
Mr Wike, a former Governor of Rivers State, has repeatedly told his associates of the plans to deliver these projects for the president, most importantly, the Abuja Metro Railway, which the previous administration abandoned.
READ ALSO;Speeding Driver Kills Siblings In Ogun
It would be recalled that President Tinubu during the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) conference last year, told Mr Wike that he wants to ride on the metro train as soon as possible. To make it possible, the FCT was given over N100 billion in the 2023 Supplementary Budget for infrastructure for the territory. Aside from the budget allocation, President Tinubu approved the withdrawal of FCTA from TSA.
The minister also highlighted this plan during a budget defence session before the House Committee on FCT. He stated that the president would commission some of those projects as he tried to convince the lawmakers to approve the budget.
To meet the deadline, some of the contractors handling the projects are blocking major roads causing traffic gridlocks. Between Berger area and AYA, there are about six ongoing bridges that Mr Wike is trying to complete.
The same thing is happening at the Old CBN Bridge, but it has recently been opened up.
“If you see the amount of work we have done in the past couple of months, but I don’t know if everything will be ready by May 29, but we are very close,” one of the workers at Wuye Bridge told this reporter.
More focus on the rich, neglecting the poor
Last year, the Minister announced the construction of 135 roads in the territory. However, many of these roads are in the affluent areas of Maitama, Asokoro, Wuse, Garki and others.
Many residents have raised concerns about this because the minister is breaking up the good roads and reconstructing them while less affluent places are suffering.
“Majority of the roads that the minister is reconstructing in Wuse and Asokoro are not even bad, he is just pulling the asphalt and laying new ones while people in Lugbe don’t even have decent roads,” Adeyeye Samson, a commercial driver in the city laments.
